Warning Sign
by Isolde1
Summary: There's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path. [Complete, KakaIru]
1. Part 1

**Warning Sign**

**Author:** Carcinya (Isolde on fanfiction(dot)net)  
**Author E-mail: **carcinya(at)yahoo(dot)com  
**Category:** Drama/Romance  
**Keywords:** Naruto Iruka Kakashi  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:** Possible up to episode 90  
**Summary:** "There's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path." One-shot, KakaIru  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on situations and characters created and owned by Masashi Kishimoto, various publishers including but not limited to TV Tokyo. No money is being made and no copyright infringement intended.

Now, now, people. If Naruto was mine, do you really think I'd be sitting at my computer, sipping bad coffee, and writing bad fanfiction? Honestly.

**Author's notes**: I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistake there might be in this story. I am French, and still only learning the beautiful language that is English. Besides, I don't have a beta-reader. Poor me. Any comments are welcome, but obviously flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Or flamers.

I have been attacked by a plot bunny on the way back from Aix-en-Provence (where I sat my exam). I watched "Star Wars Ep II" the night before at the hotel, and there was this scene ... It's _plain_ corny. But then, I thought "Iruka! Kakashi! Wah!". My little black heart melted.

And, anyway, to quote the great Suke-san, "Let's face it! Life is cheesy." So here we are.

The story is set two years in the future. Iruka is a newly-promoted Jounin.

Dedicated to Chibi Risu-chan, my goddess of KakaIru fanfiction, who also happen to be my goddess of translation, and I'll stop here coz' it's getting really embarrassing.

_Senpai_ is a title you give to people older than you in your field of work. Like an upperclassman or something.  
_Kouhai_ is the contrary. It is not derogatory.

* * *

**Warning Sign: Part 1/2**

_Present time_ -

"... GCS 8, blood pressure dropping ... Saline wide open in the right IV."

"Shizune. Put in a central line, _now_."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!"

"Prepare the board. We're bringing him back as soon as he's stabilized."

"Right away."

"Hokage-sama! He's turning blue!"

"... Blood pressure dropping..."

"Tension pneumothorax ... blast! Just what we needed."

"GCS 6 ... Tsunade-sama, we're losing him..."

"One of his lungs has collapsed. The biggest needle you got, _quick_!"

"The air is rushing out ... "

"Blood pressure?"

"Still dropping."

"Another saline IV. The wound?"

"Massive internal bleeding ... He's losing too much blood ..."

"Intubate him. We're moving back to Konoha."

"But ... Tsunade-sama..."

"I said _now_. Hang in there, my boy. No way you're dying on me. Just hang in there, Iruka ..."

¤¤¤  
_  
- Six hours prior-_

Five Jounins walked at a good pace in the forest, deadly silent shadows in a world fraught with dangers.

Well, almost silent.  
_  
_"I am not a pervert."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Kakashi, Iruka, for Hokage's sake, will you just_ stop_ it? You're worse than children."

"You're one to talk, Asuma. You've been ogling Kurenai's ass since we left."

Swoosh.

"Missed! Owwww. Kurenai, that was _mean_."

"That's what you get for being a pervert, Kakashi."

"Not you too, Kurenai? Stop laughing, Iruka-_kouhai_."

"Yes, yes. Whatever."

"Iruka-sensei, what a cool answer! You really are worthy of being my rival's second eternal rival!"

"Gai-senpai ... that's ... very nice of you. I guess."

Iruka wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into. And it wouldn't be the last time.

Oh, no.

Becoming a Jounin, what had he been thinking?

He had been rather happy to receive his new title. How very naive.

Of course, that had been reckoning without Godaime-sama's new mission system. Just like Genins and Chuunins, Jounins were now expected to work as teams.

Something about "increased security in the field". Iruka remembered wondering when exactly had security been included in a ninja's line of work, and then promptly dismissing the information.

That is, until he had learnt _who_ exactly he had been assigned to work with.

He had immediately regretted his little imps back at the Academy. At least when children behaved like children, you knew what to expect. Naruto, obviously, being a special case.

Asuma-senpai was their team leader, and Kurenai-senpai his second in command. Both were skilled, dependable shinobis.

Gai-senpai was ... whatever he was, Iruka could deal with him.

But Kakashi-sensei!

What had Hokage-sama's been thinking? It was a well-known fact that Kakashi could not stand the sight of Iruka. And the feeling, after a while, had become mutual.

From the day they had met, they had never stopped quarreling.

Iruka prided himself on being a responsible, level-headed ninja. And it irked him, irked him greatly, that all it seemed to take for him to lose his cool was one Hatake Kakashi, Copy Ninja Extraordinaire and Perverted, One-eyed Lazy-ass.

The air seemed to crackle with tension whenever they happened to be together in the same room.

Gai-senpai, after their first meeting has a team, had decided to grant Iruka the title of "Kakashi's second eternal rival". Second just after him, obviously.

Iruka sighed.

He did not know why he resented the older Jounin so much. It wasn't that he hated him.

No, he simply couldn't take him off his mind.

Everything Kakashi did. Everything Kakashi was. The way he moved, the way he talked, his scent, sweet and strong and intoxicating, and anyway, eyes that blue just couldn't be legal.

It was like drowning.

It scared him.

And then Kakashi would look at him, look through him - as if Iruka wasn't really there, wasn't worth the bother, and Iruka would hurt, hurt until anger overwhelmed him and washed everything else away.

Those days, Iruka wanted nothing more than to strangle him.

But there were also times, precious rare times, when he would feel closer to Kakashi than he had ever been to anyone else.

A shared look, a joke they both laughed at, one of them finishing the other's sentence ...

They would stare at each other, speechless and embarrassed.

But the moment would pass. It always did.

And they would turn away furiously.

But Iruka couldn't help wondering, if maybe, just maybe, they had missed something along the way.

Like taken the wrong path or something.

¤¤¤

_- Five hours prior-_

"What exactly is our mission about, Asuma-senpai?"

"We are to track down four missing nins from the Sand. They've been sighted about three miles south of here."

"Don't worry, Iruka-_kouhai_," chimed in Kakashi, sounding bored. "It's just an A-rank mission."

Iruka frowned. "I'm not worried."

"It's your first mission as a Jounin. It's quite normal to be worried," reasoned Kakashi.

"I told you I'm not worried!"

"Ah, it's okay. I won't tell a soul!"

Iruka bit his bottom lip until it drew blood.

The others did not notice.

Kakashi did.

He almost felt the coppery taste of blood on his own lips, before he realized it was just guilt.

He looked away, and said nothing.

¤¤¤

_- Four hours prior- _

"Iruka? What are you doing?"

"Just ... checking something. I ... no, that's stupid."

"What?"

"Please forget it, Asuma-senpai."

"Iruka. It was not a suggestion."

"I just have a bad feeling, is all."

"I told you there's no reason for you to be worried, Iruka-kouhai..." crooned Kakashi, smiling behind his mask.

"Why, you ...!"

"Kakashi. Shut it," cut in Asuma.

"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi waved negligently and walked ahead.

"Iruka-kun. Trust me, it is a routine mission. Just watch us and follow, and it will be okay."

"Yes, Kurenai-senpai."

The four Jounins resumed walking on the dusty path.

Iruka looked back one last time before following them, feeling oddly oppressed.

Watched.

It was just anxiety. Very understandable.

Iruka tried very hard to convince himself.

Just anxiety.

Not a warning sign.

No.

Of course not.

¤¤¤

_- Three hours prior - _

"The track stops here."

"Well stated, Captain Obvious."

"Find yourself funny, do you?"

"Ah, no! I won't stand by and watch you fight again! That's ... _uncool_! Gruesome! App..."

"Enough, Gai!" Iruka and Kakashi shouted at the exact same time, glaring furiously at the strange Jounin.

Asuma raised an eyebrow. Kurenai laughed softly behind her hand. Gai looked hurt.

Iruka's eyes widened in sudden realization. He turned away in embarrassment, a dark blush creeping up his cheeks.

Kakashi looked vaguely surprised. He gazed at Iruka pensively, as if he was really seeing him for the first time.

And, in a way, maybe he was.

¤¤¤

_- Two hour prior - _

"The right path or the left one?"

"The right one," said Iruka without hesitation.

"How can you be so sure?"

Iruka shrugged. He could not really explain.

A warning sign?

"Kurenai?"

"There's residual chakra. On the left path," she replied, glancing apologetically at Iruka.

Kakashi chuckled. "Maa..."

"Not another word, _senpai_. Else I'll have to kill you. Surely you don't want that."

"No," replied Kakashi softly, suddenly serious. "And you don't either."

"No," repeated Iruka in a whisper, heart beating wildly for no reason he could understand. "I don't..."

_Precious rare times, when he would feel closer to Kakashi than he had ever been to anyone else... _

Defiantly, he held Kakashi's gaze as long as he could. He was the first to look away, cheeks burning, acutely aware of their team mates' curious eyes.

"Left path it is, then," he said firmly.

Just anxiety.

¤¤¤

_- One hour and a half prior -_

"Nothing here either," sighed Gai.

"Maybe we should have taken the right path," said Kakashi unexpectedly. "No pun intended."

"Kurenai sensed chakra on the left one."

"Maybe it's a tra..."

Three kunais were suddenly thrown in Iruka's general direction. He only avoided them narrowly.

"Iruka, you okay?"

"Yes, Asuma-senpai," he replied quickly, berating himself for not being on his guard.

Later, Iruka would only remember vaguely the battle that followed.

The five missing nins of the Sand dropped on them.

They were strong.

Very strong.

But the Leaf ninjas were too.

Iruka fought the best he could. He remembered only vaguely Kakashi using the Sharingan, Kurenai casting a powerful illusion jutsu. He remembered thinking, absurdly and in a flash, "Asuma and Gai sure_ kick asses_", as Naruto would put it.

But there was a moment Iruka would never forget.

Both Kakashi's legs cramped as the same time, and it might have been the Sharingan, and it might have been something else, and he keeled over, and there was a katana rushing to his chest and oh gods Kakashi was going to ...

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!" Iruka shouted without thinking, in absolute terror.

Iruka and Kakashi switched places.

The katana followed its original course.

Iruka screamed once as the blade pierced his chest, and hot tears filled his vision as the missing nin drew it back with a smirk. They streamed on his cheeks.

He fell back against the grass, trying not to choke on his own blood, and suddenly it was just him, and the pain, and the sky.

Those were clouds, he thought calmly. It was going to rain.

Or maybe he was dying.

What he had feared had finally happened. The right path was the safe one, it had not just been anxiety, and he was going to die.

He heard the others finish off the missing nins with shouts of anger and useless rage.

Then he felt something press hard on his chest, and ...

"... _hurts_!"

"I have to stop the blood flow, Iruka-sensei."

_Kurenai-senpai ..._

_I can't feel my legs ..._

"Ka..."

"I'm okay," said another voice, strained.

Iruka felt someone take his hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

Kakashi's masked face appeared in his field of vision.

The Sharingan, Iruka noted idly. Scary...

"Don't be afraid," said the Jounin, and Iruka almost cried, because he saw fear in Kakashi's eyes, and Kakashi was never scared.

"...not afraid," he said.

"Hang on, okay? Gai and Asuma will bring the healer-nins back soon."

"... not afraid to die..."

"Yeah, I know," replied Kakashi. "Don't speak..."

"Kakashi..."

Iruka felt tears of frustration at his own inability to speak running down his cheeks.

He could not bring himself to be ashamed.

He gripped the older man's hand, not caring if he hurt him.

"Not afraid to die..." he repeated with difficulty. Blood trickled at the corner of his mouth. "Because..."

"Iruka ..."

"... been dying ... a little everyday ... since I met you."

"... wished... you'd look at me ..."

"Hush..."

"...hurt so much..." he murmured softly. "Tired..."

"Iruka!"

He felt Kakashi's hand on his forehead, and suddenly he felt very young and very scared and he realized with a sudden pang of despair that he did not want to die.

Not just yet, not right now, not like that.

_The clouds are so dark_, he thought absurdly, _and I'll never know if it rained or not_.

And things that should not have mattered, like the clouds and the rain and Kakashi's eyes, suddenly took a whole new level of meaning as he realized that he would never see them again.

Iruka saw the path, the path they had both missed.

Both too proud, both too afraid to admit that just maybe, they needed each other.

Iruka wished he had seen it sooner, before there were but regrets left, and the feeling of Kakashi's hand stroking his brow, and Kakashi's voice fading in the background, and the searing pain in his chest ...

Everything faded to black slowly.

It began to rain.

But Iruka did not feel it.

* * *

_  
T__o be continued... in part two!_

Carcinya's Special Cliffhanger of Doom Deluxe!

Yes, I am evil. Nya!

... Review? **puppy dog look**


	2. Part 2

**Warning Sign**

**Author:** Carcinya (Isolde on fanfiction(dot)net)  
**Author E-mail:**  
**Category:** Drama/Romance  
**Keywords:** Naruto Iruka Kakashi  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:** Possible up to episode 90  
**Summary:** "There's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path." [Completed, KakaIru]  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on situations and characters created and owned by Masashi Kishimoto, various publishers including but not limited to TV Tokyo. The song and the plot are mine. "Warning Sign" is Coldplay's. No money is being made and no copyright infringement intended.

Now, now, people. If Naruto was mine, do you really think I'd be sitting at my computer, sipping bad coffee, and writing bad fanfiction? Honestly.  
  
**Author's notes**: I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistake there might be in this story. I am French, and still only learning the beautiful language that is English. Besides, I don't have a beta-reader. Poor me. Any comments are welcome, but obviously flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Or flamers.  
  
Blast, but I hate this new paging policy!

Here comes the fluff, err, the last part. Enjoy! (Diabetics, consider yourselves warned.)

Dedicated to Ninja Better and Lizmun (Evil Kazumi) because they have been real nice to me. Wah! hugs  
And to Kiasca, my LJ soulmate. Way to go, kiddo!

* * *

**Warning Sign: Part 2/2**

- _2 hour_s _later_ -

"Naruto, would you please stop pacing?"

"Sakura-chan! It's been _two hours_!What's Tsunade-baba doing to him?"

"Naruto. Tsunade is the best healer I've ever met. She'll save that Jounin of yours," said Jiraiya.

"But, ero-sennin..."

"Not buts, brat. We've gotta wait, is all."

_Iruka-sensei_, Naruto thought desperately, _please be okay_.

Ramen without Iruka-sensei just wouldn't be the same.

"I wish it would stop raining," whispered Kurenai.

She glanced at Kakashi.

The Jounin had not left his spot by the window since Iruka had been admitted in surgery, two hours ago.

In a critical state.

Asuma was smoking outside. Sakura and Naruto were bickering to vent some of their anxiety. Sasuke looked indifferent as usual, leaning on a wall, arms crossed on his chest. Gai was praying fervently, on bended knees, in the middle of the room - a sight which would have been rather comical given his atypical choice of clothing, had the situation been any less serious.

It had been sheer chance that the rescue team had bumped into Team Seven training with Jiraya-sama on their way back to Konoha.

Fate really had a twisted sense of humor.

Kurenai would never forget the look on Naruto's face: curiosity, light sympathy, all swept away when he realized _who_ exactly laid on the board... Then there had nothing but dread, horror, and abiding anger.

They had been waiting for two hours, but it could as well have been two days, or two weeks, for all their anxiety.

The large wooden doors leading to the operating room suddenly opened.

Tsunade was very pale under the blood.

All ninjas in the room sprang to their feet in a flurry of anguished questions.

Kakashi did not move.

"Hush, now," said Tsunade, holding up her hands to stifle them. "Iruka's condition is stable for now."

She could not suppress a small smile at their collective sigh of relief.

"But," she went on, "he's still in a very serious state. The katana punctured his left lung - sheer luck it missed his heart - leading to a tension pneumothorax. It also damaged his spinal cord. We were able to fix most of the damage, but I had to use Naosu No Jutsu on him."

Gai and Kurenai gasped softly.

"Naomu no Jutsu?" asked Naruto, confused.

"The _Naosu_ No Jutsu is a healing spell which can cure almost any injury. It is rarely used, however, because of the pain it brings to the patient. Some people ... cannot endure it."

Naruto paled.

"Waddya mean?"

"Their mind ... snaps... from the pain."

"Then why did you use it, you old hag?!"

"Because Iruka would have remained paralyzed otherwise," she said simply. "But Iruka is strong, I don't think..."

A sinister crack interrupted her.

Kakashi's fist had connected with the wall. Blood dripped slowly on the white concrete.

Tsunade sighed.

They were in for a long, long night.

¤¤¤

- _3 hour_s _later_ -  
  
"Right. Iruka-san has been moved to the PACU. He's stable, but what he needs now is rest. Tsunade-sama did well," said Shizune gently.

"PACU?" echoed the ninjas, equally confused.

"Post anesthesia care unit," she replied. "Do you want to see him? You'd have to stay behind the glass, of course. We don't even allow that usually, but ..."

She was cut off as two Genins and a Jounin sped past her, Asuma and Sasuke trailing behind them at a more sedate pace.  
  
Shizune shook her head disapprovingly.

"No running in the hallways!"

Kurenai was about to follow them, when she noticed Kakashi had not moved an inch.

"Aren't you coming?" she questioned.

"What for?" came the listless reply.

"That's the least you can do."

"..."

"Kakashi! He saved your life, for Hokage's sake!"

"Throwing his life away like that ... Fuck!" shouted Kakashi, surprising both Kurenai and himself. "I didn't ask him to save me. I didn't ask him to! I have _nothing _to do with this! Nothing!"

Kurenai paled as understanding dawned upon her suddenly. She took in Kakashi's drawn face, and remembered another scene, years ago. The healer-nins around Obito's body. The blood and the bandages on Kakashi's face. He had worn the same look back then - caged and scared and hurt.

"It was not your fault, Kakashi," she whispered softly, meaning both Obito's death and Iruka's injury.

"What he did ... it didn't make sense. It just didn't!"

"Love rarely does."

Kakashi turned back to the window.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"I am not blind, Kakashi. And neither are the others."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," he repeated stubbornly.

"So that's the way it is?" asked Kurenai sadly. "I pity you, Kakashi. So caught up in your own fears..."

Kakashi did not answer.

After a while, Kurenai turned away.

"Don't make him wait for too long," she said, turning back one last time before she went through the PACU's doors, "You might not get another warning sign."

¤¤¤

- _6 hours later_ -

"Kakashi-san, I understand your concern but ..."

"Don't make me enter his room by the window. You know I would."

Shizune sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose.

"You really are unmanageable, you know that? _Fine_, you can go in for a while."

Kakashi nodded.

"I must warn you, though. He's still under respirator and monitoring - it's pretty scary."

Kakashi nodded again.

"Off you go then. Behave yourself," she called after him half-heartedly.

Kakashi walked down the corridor leading to the PACU, his light pace breaking the thick, artificial silence.

Shizune had said Iruka's bed was number 22.

Kakashi paled a little when he saw Iruka. Or maybe it was simply the moonlight.

Iruka looked dead, was the first thing that came to his mind.

Ghastly white, so unlike his usual warm, chocolate skin tones.

Silent, so unlike his usual bouncy and cheerful self.

Immobile, save the rhythmical, forced heaving of his chest.

A sinister parody of everything Umino Iruka was.

All because of him, Hatake Kakashi.

Had Kakashi been a lesser man, he would have turned back and run, or cried, or shouted, or maybe the three at once.

He did neither.

He drew a chair next to Iruka's bed, and took the younger man's cold hand in his.

And waited.

¤¤¤

- _8 hours_ _later_ -

Kakashi waited, a silent shadow in the moonlight, Iruka's hand in his.

He waited two hours, his body motionless, his mind restless - one single thought running through his mind endlessly.

_My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault ..._

But he did not cry. It was a relief he did not deserve.

He watched Iruka breathe with an almost painful intensity.

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out...

He watched until there was nothing left in his mind but that comforting rhythm.

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out...

Suddenly, Iruka's hand twitched in his palm.

Kakashi looked up to find Iruka's brown eyes on him, wide with fear and confusion.

Iruka was terrified, he realized. Completely lost.

"Don't fight the respirator," said the older man instantly. "Let it breathe for you."

Iruka obeyed and seemed to calm down a little as oxygen filled his lungs once again.

"You're in reanimation," Kakashi told him. "You're safe. It's okay."

Unconsciously, he began stroking slowly the inside of Iruka's palm with his thumb.

"Ah, I'll got and get a nurse ..."

Iruka squeezed his hand and shook his head slightly.

_Stay_, his eyes said.

Kakashi hesitated.

_Stay ..._

Kakashi stayed.

Iruka went back to sleep, fingers intertwined with Kakashi's.

¤¤¤

- _12 hours_ _later_ -

"Shhh... you're going to wake them up!"

"Geez..."

"Asuma!"

"Too late," mumbled Kakashi.

He pried his fingers gently from Iruka's, and stretched with a yawn.

The younger man slept on, oblivious.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" asked the Jounin, a little annoyed at having been caught asleep.

"You were burned out, what with the mission and all ..." answered Kurenai.

Her crimson gaze went from Iruka to Kakashi.

She smiled.

"There's hope for you yet," she said.

Kakashi glared.

Asuma and Gai exchanged confused glances.

Silence hung thick between the ninjas for a moment, only disrupted by the respirator.

The door slid open to reveal Tsunade.

She nodded at the three Jounins, walked over to Iruka's bed, and scanned briefly his record.

"Iruka woke up once," said Kakashi suddenly.

"What? When?" came the immediate flow of questions.

"He woke up briefly during the night. He was a little disturbed by the respirator, I think," remarked Kakashi, "but he went back to sleep all right."

"Why didn't you call a nurse?" asked Tsunade, frowning.

"He asked me not to," Kakashi replied simply.

"Asked you? While intubated?" Tsunade raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You must be joking."

Kakashi shrugged. His gaze strayed to Iruka's prone form.

"He asked me not to," Kakashi repeated. "Just not with words."

Tsunade gave him a pensive look.

"I see," she said slowly - though it was hard to tell if she really did.

"Maybe it would be best if you remained by his side, then," she added after consideration. "In case, you know, he woke up and asked you again."

Kakashi was pretty sure the mighty Hokage was plainly making fun of him, in her usual twistedly caring way. He could not quite bring himself to be mad, though, because she had just spared him the need to humiliate himself further.

Tsunade knew all this very well, of course.

Watching over Iruka was no longer a whim, but a mission - and one Kakashi could, and would, undertake with particular dedication and no second thoughts.

¤¤¤

- _72 hour_s _later_ -

Iruka indeed woke up again, but this time there was nothing to ask. He did not fight the respirator, because he simply wasn't under respirator anymore.

He had one hell of a killer headache, and he felt like he had been trampled over by a furious herd of Academy pupils.

But he was alive.

He took in his surroundings carefully.

An hospital room. Some flowers. Chocolate! Plenty of get well cards and ...

Wait, was that _snoring_?

He felt a strange weight settled on his right shoulder - yet he was positive only his left side had been wounded.

Iruka's eyes narrowed as he twisted his head to get a better look at the intruder - who had the nerve to be fast and noisily asleep on his shoulder.

He glimpsed a mop of unruly silver hair.

His heart skipped a beat.

_Kakashi_.

The older man shifted, obviously waking up.

"Good morning," offered Iruka.

Or tried to. His voice was raspy from disuse, and his greeting ended up sounding a lot like a hoarse "morn'g".

Kakashi looked up, startled.

"Yo," he said vaguely, sounding like his usual bored self.

That was no way to salute someone you had just been conveniently using as a pillow, Iruka thought.

It stung.

"You're hurting me," he said. Which was true, technically - he simply did not say where.

"No way," replied Kakashi, frowning. "They dosed you up with enough morphine to kill an elephant!"

Iruka gazed at him like he had sprouted another head.

Had Kakashi just compared him to a pachyderm?

"Huh," said Kakashi, almost sheepish. "Sorry. I really am no good at this, aren't I?"

Iruka did not answer, still frowning slightly.

"That's the part where you're supposed to say, 'You're not _that_ bad'."

"True," the younger man rejoined tongue-in-cheek, "you're worse."

Kakashi's visible eye twinkled.

If Iruka joked, however lamely, he could not really be mad at him. Could he?

He decided to bring back the subject on safer grounds.

"I owe you one," the masked ninja said suddenly.

"I suppose you do," replied Iruka pensively. "Though it wasn't my initial intent, you know."

"Anyway, I am in your debt. You can ask me whatever you want," cut in Kakashi. "Except my unmasking myself," he added as an afterthought.

Iruka laughed, though it came out a little hoarse.

"Would your answering a question - truthfully, mind you - repay your 'debt'?"

Kakashi nodded.

His dark-haired companion pondered his question thoughtfully.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked after a while, his voice still raspy and low, carefully avoiding Kakashi's gaze.

The Jounin started.

"I don't hate you," he said immediately.

"Well, you sure don't act like it," said Iruka, looking up and meeting the older man's eye. There was humor, strength and maybe a little sadness in those deep dark brown pupils of his, youth and age all mixed up in a strange bittersweet blend that was typically Iruka.

_Don't make him wait for too long. _

"Well?" probed the young man, tilting his head to the side.

_You might not get another warning sign_.

Kakashi swallowed.

"I am scared," he admitted - it was easier than he had thought.

The other ninja looked vaguely surprised.

"Scared of what?"

"Of you," said Kakashi quietly.

Iruka had not expected that. His eyes widened.

"Of... of _me_?" he repeated stupidly. "You must be joking! There is nothing even remotely scary about me!"

"That's not what your pupils said," answered Kakashi pensively.

The former Academy teacher sputtered in outrage.

"Anyway," resumed the older Jounin, "I am scared of you, because... well, you know," he ended lamely.

"Enlighten me," said Iruka stonily, not having forgiven him yet for his comment on his teaching methods.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you...?"

"Yes, well. Go ahead, I'm all ears," said the younger man with an impatient wave.

"Okay," said Kakashi.

He lowered his mask, leaned in, and kissed Iruka on the lips.

He pulled away after a few seconds and lifted his mask back in its place.

Iruka was very red, Kakashi thought, it made him look a little like a lobster.

But a _cute_ lobster, mind you!

"Ah, huh ... Kakashi-sensei ..." stammered Iruka, his voice a raspy whisper.

Kakashi nodded in sympathy.

"That's what I meant," he said.

Iruka visibly tried to recompose himself.

"Are you saying," he said slowly, and there was an edge to his voice, "that you've been acting like a _jerk_ to me for the past two years, because you _liked_ me?"

"It sounds worse when you put it that way," whined the Copy Ninja.

"Are you aware that this kind of behavior is usually associated with four-year-olds?" Iruka said sternly, glowering.

"Err ... " replied Kakashi, because there really was nothing else to say when Iruka was going all teacher-like on you.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" asked Iruka.

"Not much, I am afraid," answered Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head.

"'I am sorry', would be a good place to start," Iruka supplied helpfully. "And, for that matter," he added quietly, "I am sorry too."

They looked at each other pensively for a while, until Kakashi broke the silence again.

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"What you said ... earlier," he specified."After the fight."

"Huh," said Iruka, sheepishly, "I don't remember much, you know. What did I say?"

Kakashi grew a faint dusting of pink on his exposed cheek.

"You said ... You said you had been dying a little everyday since you met me."

"Did I, now?" said Iruka vaguely, refusing to meet Kakashi's eye. "I must have been delirious."

The other Jounin wasn't satisfied.

He reached out and lifted Iruka's chin with a finger.

"Did you mean it?" he insisted stubbornly.

"What if I did?" questioned Iruka curiously.

Kakashi hesitated.

"Then I would have to kiss you again," he said, because that was as close to an apology as he could manage.

Would that be enough?

There was fear in his voice, faint and almost unnoticeable - but Iruka heard it, because it matched his own.

He gave a soft, almost shy smile.

"I meant it", he replied simply, a playful glint in his brown eyes.

Kakashi grinned under his mask before lowering it again. He kissed Iruka with all he had, because Iruka was all he wanted. He was surprised, and not a little pleased, when he felt the younger man kissing back, his tongue boldly straying out his mouth and caressing his own.

Neither heard the door sliding open, and neither noticed the ninjas entering the room.

Said shinobis could not contain their amusement very long, and soon their snickers and chuckles gave them away.

Kakashi pulled away from Iruka and drew back his mask.

"Woops," he said, winking at the younger man.

Iruka was very red and so embarrassed he couldn't speak. He held Kakashi's hand in a death grip.

"Took you long enough, kids," said Asuma when the laughter subsided. "Gai, you owe me two thousand yens."

The weird Jounin sighed mournfully as he searched his pockets.

"Alas, it seems like the Fates are against me today."

Sakura and Shizune were delighted - a little too obviously, perhaps ...

"Iruka-senseiiiii," whined Naruto in mock horror, "And here I thought you had good taste."

The former teacher gave a wan, apologetic look.

"Nobody's perfect," he said dryly, but his eyes were far too warm, and his hand never left Kakashi's.

Kurenai gazed at them pensively, a soft smile gracing her lips.

"Why the change of mind?" she asked Kakashi.

The Copy Ninja shrugged.

"Well," he began earnestly, "Iruka can be very convincing."

Iruka shot him a wary look.

"Such a skilled tongue ..." Kakashi finished, only half-jokingly.

"Kakashi!" exclaimed Iruka, in utter mortification. He whacked him on the skull disapprovingly.

Said Jounin hooked an arm around his shoulder and drew him against his chest with a happy, childlike laugh.

Iruka's mind protested furiously.

It was already irrational, Iruka thought, to fancy finding love in a man's arms in his late twenties.

But to find it in Kakashi's?

Insane.  
  
Absurd.

Preposterous.

And he could go on for a while like that!

Iruka was a man of order, of organization, neatly folded underwear and color-coded homework stacks. He loved his quiet, unsurprising life - he had planned it all, from his career to his retirement, from his children - three - to his burial - and ...

Kakashi was a walking natural disaster, a tornado of disturbing humor, novelty and twisted time perception. Like a stone thrown in a calm pond, a sugar dropped in a coffee cup, Kakashi trampled on his comforting habits, questioned his beloved certainties and ...

They had spent years fighting and resenting each other. Building a relationship on such grounds was utterly unreasonable and ...

And then he thought, what the hell.

Iruka closed his eyes, and buried his face in Kakashi's neck. He felt the older man shift a little and hold him tighter.

As he drifted off trustingly against Kakashi, he could almost hear - so, so faraway - an old ballad his mother used to sing at night to scare off the monsters of his childhood, and lull him to sleep when they just wouldn't go away.

'For in my heart there is but one,  
One land, one hope, one smile;  
  
For in my mind there is but one,  
This my path, my choice alone -  
Take my hand, and you shall see,  
Just how simple love can be;  
  
For in my mind there is but one,  
This my fight, my blood to shed -  
And I shall sing on my own,  
All that cannot be said;  
  
I will follow you, lover mine,  
Until the stars die and the world cries -  
Tears of pensive joy and pained lies,  
In the bittersweet light of a frail sunshine;

For in my heart there is but one,  
One home, one dream, one man.'

* * *

That's it folks! 

The poem is from, erm, me. Yes, it _sucks_. No need to flame me - I _know_.

Thanks, many thanks to all the people who read/reviewed this story!

Please review? (I am a feedback whore, it can't be helped...)


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